Laurestines
by Exotos135
Summary: Sir Stabby gives Higgs the task to deliver a box to the last cell in the dungeons. However, little does Higgs know that the person in the last cell is a bit of a bigger deal than she thought.


**Hi everybody, Exotos135 here bringing you yet another mind-boggling, brain-breakingly bizarre pairing! And get used to it, because this sort of pairing is what I'm gonna be working it for a while.**

 **Last time, and one time I'm not particularly proud of, I wrote a story focusing on the pairing of Kelly and Higgs. This time, Higgs will return to the main role, since I do think she's got some potential, but her partner this time is someone a little more... major, in terms of importance. This being none other than the infamous Eclipsa, the queen of darkness herself.**

 **How could I ever see this happen? It obviously wouldn't be shipping (HiggsXKelly OTP XD), but a little interaction. You know what they say: The most unlikely meetings are some of the more interesting ones.**

 **Take two characters you never thought would interact in canon, put them in a story together, and soon how things develop from there. The sheer possibilities are too many, and too rich, to let go to waste.**

 **That, and I like experimentation. Maybe a little too much.**

 **But anyway, let's get on with the story that will possibly blow up your minds!**

* * *

At the castle of Mewni, a certain redheaded squire was polishing a pile of swords just when Sir Stabby, one of the many knights that served the royal family, entered the room and walked towards her.

"Higgs?" Sir Stabby asked.

The redheaded squire, Higgs, flinched and turned to salute with one hand, while trying to continue polishing with the other. "Yes, Sir Stabby?!"

"First off, stop polishing my swords, you're going to get hurt if you do it without looking," Sir Stabby stated, and Higgs obliged as the knight reached for his back and took out a box. "Second, Queen Moon herself just called me and gave me the important task to deliver this box to the last cell in the dungeons, for reasons unspecified. But, since I believe I don't have time to do that right now, and the queen did say it was urgent to deliver it, I'm giving you the task to deliver this for me."

"Got it, Sir Stabby, I'll deliver this with all of my might!" Higgs boasted before looking at the box. "By the way, what's in the box?"

"Of course you'd ask that eventually," Sir Stabby shook his head. "I asked the queen the same thing, but she refused to answer me. And I can't open the box to check it myself, either, she'd have my head if I did that!"

Higgs raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe not that extreme, but she'd still be pretty angry," Sir Stabby leaned closer to Higgs. "Just, please, deliver this to the dungeons, don't open it before you get there, and then get back here once you deliver it, if possible. Understood?"

Higgs nodded, and promptly ran off to the dungeons, leaving Sir Stabby to take a deep breath.

 _ **The dungeons...**_

Higgs opened the door to the dungeons, and besides some rats that ran off with whatever they could snatch, the place was practically desolate. At least, that's the impression the squire got when she was met with dead silence.

"It's good to see that the inmates have learned to not be so annoyingly loud," Higgs looked at her surroundings as she took a couple steps inside. "Now, I had to deliver this to the last cell, right?"

Higgs earned no answer, and she remained silent as she walked to the very last cell she could spot. Now, she could just run straight to it, but even if the place was eerily quiet, that didn't exactly mean that it was perfectly safe to run around a place filled with some of the most dangerous criminals in Mewman history... and maybe the occasional jester that got too sassy with the royalty.

Eventually, the redheaded squire reached the last, and briefly hesitated before she opened it and went inside, immediately closing the door to make sure whoever was inside wouldn't get out.

"Greetings, whoever you are," Higgs said as she double, then triple, checked to see if the door was fully closed. "I got a box for you, coming from the queen Moon herself-"

"Oh, how delightful."

The instant she heard that voice, Higgs froze in place. It was a voice spoken of only in legends. A voice that belonged to easily one of the most feared mewmans of all time. A voice that, once spoken, could send even the mightiest of knights into a crying fit.

Come to think of it, the last part was probably why Sir Stabby sent her to deliver the box.

Higgs took a deep breath, and slowly turned around, only to find a figure bathing in the shadows that covered the deeper section of the room. And soon enough, the figure walked out of said shadows to reveal their true self: Eclipsa, the Queen of Darkness.

"You know, I honestly thought I was just going to be enjoying the view here all day, like I do every day," Eclipsa said as she walked closer towards Higgs, who walked towards the door in return. "It's nice to get a visit every once in a while, you know?"

"E-E-E-Eclipsa?! The queen of darkness?!" Higgs exclaimed, trying to reach for the lock while also keeping an eye on Eclipsa. "I-I-I-I thought you were dead! Wait a minute, is this some sort of test of character?!"

Higgs started looking through the whole room. "Whoever is bringing up this illusion of Eclipsa, show yourselves! I'm just Sir Stabby's squire!"

"Wait a minute, so, you're telling me that, despite my reputation, Moon gave the task to deliver this box to a knight who then gave you, his squire, the job to do it instead?" Eclipsa asked, earning a slightly confused nod from Higgs. "Oh, how things have changed in Mewni. Back in my times, all knights who got orders from their queen had to do them themselves, and not send their squires to do it."

Higgs raised an eyebrow. "What happened if they did that anyway?"

Eclipsa narrowed her eyes, her hair shadowing her eyes as she growled, "They would punished by publicly being stripped of the title of knight, right in front of all the kingdom!"

At this point, the redhead was more than happy that those customs had long since been abandoned. At least, as far as she knew. Not that she could point it out in front of Eclipsa, that might make her upset.

"Anyway, let's not focus on that, instead, let's focus on this gift you've brought to me," Eclipsa took a closer look. "What's in the box?"

"I don't know, Sir Stabby asked Queen Moon the same thing, but she didn't answer," Higgs looked at the box. "He told me not to open it until I got to your room, so I couldn't take a look at it either."

"Well, we're in my room now, so..." Eclipsa clenched her fists and smiled, chanting, "Op-en it! Op-en it!"

Higgs was conflicted: On the one hand, this was _Eclipsa_ she was dealing with. Even if she seemed to be in a good mood at the moment, she was still one of the most dangerous mewman in history for a reason, so whatever was in the box, it was probably not something that they could just play with.

On the other hand, she wanted to know what was inside the dang box.

One glance at Eclipsa's excited look later, Higgs opened the box, and the duo saw inside... a pair of laurestine flowers. A sight that left Eclipsa mesmerized, but made Higgs confused at best.

"They're... flowers?" Higgs remarked.

"These aren't just flowers..." Eclipsa chirped up. "They're laurestines!"

Higgs was immediately confused. "Laure-what-nows?"

"A special kind of flower that grown in many dimensions, but mostly in forest-type dimensions," Eclipsa grabbed one of the flowers as Higgs set the box to the side. "In ancient times, these flowers were seen as symbols of everlasting love and romance."

Eclipsa's monster husband came to mind, and on the spur of the moment, Higgs asked, "I assume they remind you of your husband?"

Higgs covered her mouth as Eclipsa gave her a shocked look, but rather than getting angry at the statement, Eclipsa frowned with a little, worried smile, then walked back to the shadow-covered spot, where she parted the curtains to unveil the light, illuminating the spot at once. Besides a simple bench and a window, though, nothing else was hidden.

Eclipsa sat on the edge of the bench, then gestured Higgs to come to her side. And of course, the redhead just didn't feel exactly safe doing that. She already delivered the box, spoke with Eclipsa for a moment, all she had left to do is open the door, and get the heck out of there. But... now that Eclipsa had made the gesture, and remembering how an upset queen is the worst queen you can have, Higgs took a deep breath, sat to Eclipsa's side, and watched as the queen explained:

"My monster husband and I got married in the middle of some grasslands that were filled with these beautiful laurestine flowers. And according to the legends I've read, and one of the few that I don't find ridiculous, the Mewmans of my age believed that sending me the same type of flower that surrounded my marriage would calm the ire of my monster husband, and bring me happiness that would help me survive my marriage."

Eclipsa turned to look at the laurestine flower, and remained for some time. Quite a lot of time, in fact, to the point Higgs started to wonder if the queen had gotten lost in her thoughts.

"Are those legends true?"

"Well, they do bring me some happiness," Eclipsa frowned, with her smile intact. "Although, they also bring me some sadness as well. You know, since it reminds me of my husband, who's no longer here, my daughter, who I don't even know is alive anymore, and other saddening things."

Feeling sympathy, Higgs took a deep breath, and gathered enough courage to ask, "Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?"

Eclipsa turned to Higgs, and smiled a little before she started laughing, slightly startling the redhead. For some reason, though, Higgs immediately noticed that Eclipsa's laughter was devoid of any malice or bad intention. In fact, the laughter sounded more... joyful, and delighted, which perfectly described Eclipsa's mood as she stopped laughing and stated:

"Sweetie, you delivered these beautiful flowers to me, taking on the challenge to walk through the dungeons filled with the worst scum of mewni just to get to me. Then, you actually remained behind and talked with me for a little bit, giving me some sort of interaction that wasn't filled with hostility! Sure, you were scared, but also curious, intrigued... kind of like myself when I was your age."

Just then, Higgs realized something important: She had spent the last couple of minutes talking with Eclipsa, one of the most dangerous mewman alive... and it had been long since she acted like it was a big deal. Once this realization processed in her hear, Higgs started laughing, with Eclipsa joining the laughter for a moment until Higgs stated speaking:

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe it: I'm talking with Eclipsa, the queen of darkness, one of the most infamous mewmen of all time, and I'm acting like that's nothing!"

Upon hearing that, all laughter ceased, prompting Higgs to continue:

"I was Just supposed to deliver the box, then leave you alone again. And instead, I've been spending all this time treating you like any other person, rather than the respect such as yours deserves!"

Higgs started shivering as she put her hand on her forehead and tried to avoid eye contact with the queen of darkness. "I'm so sorry for-"

"Don't be."

The redhead flinched and turned back to see Eclipsa, now sporting an understanding smile as she offered Higgs her laurestine flower.

"You do have a point: You've stayed here longer than you should have, but that's all you did. You haven't offended me, you haven't angered me, all you've done is keep me company for a little bit longer than you were supposed to, that's it," the lady spoke as the squire hesitantly accepted the flower. "I understand that you have other things to do, and that coward of a knight you serve is probably wondering where you went. Go back to him, and don't worry, this little meeting between us will remain a secret."

Higgs nodded in agreement and stood up, looking at the flower as she walked to the door. As she opened it, however, Higgs glanced between the flower Eclipsa gave her, and Eclipsa herself, who looked at the view from the other side of the window. Once she opened all of the locks, Higgs grabbed the doorknob... and hesitated as Eclipsa turned to look at her.

"Queen Eclipsa-"

"Oh please, darling, don't be so formal, just call me Eclipsa," the lady spoke. "I mean, I'm no longer queen now, am I?"

"Right, sorry about that," Higgs put focus on the flower. "Why did you give me this flower?"

"After this little moment we had, that certainly wasn't the question I'd expect you to ask," Eclipsa folded her arms behind her back. "But, since you sincerely wanna know, it's my way of saying thank you."

Higgs raised an eyebrow. "For delivering a pair of flowers?"

"For giving me both company and a little bit of conversation to shake up the status quo I've grown used to," Eclipsa rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, with my reputation, people don't tend to come pay me a visit that often, so I appreciate any visitors that come here, give me a bit of conversation, and don't try pointing a knife at my neck."

"I... see... your welcome, q... Eclipsa," Higgs answered, moments before a question popped in her head. "By the way, how exactly are you still alive? It's been 300 years since your rule, so, shouldn't you be dead by now?"

Eclipsa chuckled, and made the "that's a secret" gesture, with Higgs "sealing her lips" in return. Just as she got ready to leave again, however, Eclipsa blurted:

"By the way, Higgs, tell your knight that if he's given the order to deliver anything to me next time, and he doesn't show up himself... I'm going to be very angry at him."

Higgs was "relieved" to hear that in that moment; Even if she was nicer than most tales made her sound, Eclipsa could still send chills down someone's spine if angered.

"By the way, I don't think you ever told me your name, sweetie," Eclipsa pointed out. "Could you tell me that before you leave? I'll let you go afterwards, no strings attached."

Higgs took a deep breath, gathered her thoughts, and stated, "Higgs. My name is Higgs."

"Higgs..." Eclipsa repeated, then smiled. "That's a cute name."

Now finally able to leave in peace, Higgs silently nodded, walked out of the room, and closed the door, leaning against the wall as she took the moment to take a deep breath, and slightly calm down... before internally celebrating the moment.

After all, Higgs was, to her knowledge, the only squire in the history of mewni to ever come face-to-face with Eclipsa. The same Eclipsa that was believed to be so powerful in her mastery of dark magic, the night itself contorted and either came or ended earlier by her mere influence. The Eclipsa that brought forth a change in Mewni whose effect has lasted until modern days...

She met this infamous figure from mewman folklore, and not only came out alive from it, but possibly left on _good_ terms with her.

Yeah, that was a big deal.

But then again, it wasn't something she could blatantly boast out loud to anybody, not even someone as trustworthy as Sir Stabby. Even if Eclipsa wasn't as bad as the legends said she was, she was an infamous figure for a reason. Higgs couldn't even imagine what people would do to her if they found out she actually was in the same room as Eclipsa.

So, for the time being, this would be a secret kept between the redheaded squire and the queen of darkness. Higgs walked to the exit, taking a moment to look at the laurestine flower she got as soon as she was about to leave. She smiled at the flower, and saved it on her pocket, alongside the memory of the meeting, before leaving the dungeons.


End file.
